Some musings on the debate I attended today at the Lighthouse I am sick to the back teeth of political party debate on this issue. Ok, personally I don’t believe in government or political parties in any case, righties, lefties or middlies. I came round to this view many years ago through study, being a community worker and, having to have contact with local, regional and national politicians. I do believe in voting, but in a tactical way as I know my vote, within the British political system will not deliver what I want to see... a fair and just society The debate was organized by Scottish Campaign on Welfare Reform and I was glad to see that the proposed MSPs Jackie Baillie and another TBC did not appear. Instead we had Mike Delaney of Govan Law Centre, and a woman who had been drafted in at the last minute on the NO side For the YES side we had Danny McCafferty ex Dumbarton Council Leader and Blair jenkins ex Director of Broadcasting at STV, and Head of News and Current Affairs at both STV and BBC Scotland The NOs did not go down to well Poor Mike Delaney who seems like a good man, and most assuredly a labour supporter, kept baiting the audience (although he obviously did not mean to) e.g. “incentives will help the unemployed back to work” this infuriated a woman in the audience who questioned the word incentive which she stated implies that the unemployed do NOT want to work but need to be cajoled to do so. The NO woman ( I could not make out her name) was for some reason extremely angry about the whole independence thing and got downright nasty at one point....she stated she is an internationist “why do Scots believe they are better that people in NI. Wales, England” Do we? The YES (!) men fared better, Blair Jenkins gives the impression he is someone you can trust, steady and thoughtful, not someone easily swayed, sensible and good on the economic issues Best speaker by far was Danny McCafferty and his Aspiration/Independence/ /innovation/change’ statement I was finding the party political statements from the NO camp aimed at the snp (who were not represented as the yes speakers have no political affiliations) I had to speak up on this sniping by political parties, I want to hear about how the YES and NOs intend to deliver social welfare to those who need it. YES is to me about this is about making a nation which is more more socially just and respects its citizens to make decisions about their own lives and the society they live in. There is no way we are going to get this through a British Government peopled by political parties that, in the words of Danny McCafferty “you cannot slide a fag paper between” ! Most people do not vote in Britain because the British political system does not deliver policies that reflect their views and needs A Scottish government will give us the chance to create a new political structure and change the way policy is developed and delivered. More public consultation, imput from voluntary and grass roots organizations, regular referenda and the development of a written constitution. If, and I believe it to be a possibility, the NO vote prevails with a weak majority, the YES voters will continue to agitate for change, they will NOT disappear. Scotland WILL become a modern nation separate from the rest of the uk maybe this year or a few years time it WILL happen.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 20:14:58 +0000
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