THE TIDE IS TURNING The bastion of Scottish Unionist Media, the Scotsman newspaper claims a recent poll shows that the tide is definitely turning in the independence referendum. It indicates that as the Yes Campaigners chip away at each absurd scare story and prove its absurdity the voters are changing their minds. Not quite in their droves but at a steady pace that if maintained from now until the referendum in September will deliver a historic victory to the Yes Campaigners that will reverberate around the world. Many observers are now finding that the weakness and negativity of the No Campaign arguments are now costing the Unionists votes. They have failed to grasp the fact that not only do the people of Scotland like the Scottish Parliament but the overwhelming consensus is to strengthen it with much more powers. The fact that the various elements of the Unionist No Campaign have failed to agree on more powers and present a vision of a stronger Scottish Parliament is beginning to cause frustration and even resentment in many No voters who are now beginning to move direction. Of course it is still the case that many are moving from No to Undecided but a significant amount are also moving further across to the Yes Camp. As the people of Scotland brace ourselves for the lions share of Austerity measures still to be implemented by a Westminster Government we generally despise and do not elect we are feeling increasingly vulnerable about the ability and willingness of our own politicians and parliament to protect us. In fairness to the Scottish Government it is the fact that Westminster controls most of the purse strings and the most important economic powers that hinders them. However, the three main Unionist Parties are showing little willingness to stand up for the people of Scotland at Westminster or at Holyrood. The Liberals are in partnership with the Conservatives and Labour have one eye on the Westminster elections in 2015 and clearly dont want to upset the Tory voters in Middle England. That effectively means that only the Nationalist Scottish Government is prepared to stand up to Westminster and promise to abolish the unpopular polices such as the Bedroom Tax and reverse the privatisation of Royal Mail. Yes Labour have said they will abolish the Bedroom Tax but it took Scottish Labour about six months to even call it by its name and that was only after their bosses in London gave them permission to. As for giving Scotland more powers that can only be done in the context of the United Kingdom after Westminster has approved those powers. Given the hostility to such a move by many of the English MPs and the fact they have a colossal majority means it is unlikely to happen after a No vote. That will not stop the extremely vague promises of more powers after we vote No from Scottish Unionists. The difficulty those same Scottish Unionists have is they are failing to convince many No voters and undecided voters that more powers are going to be delivered if we stay in the Union. The Unionists have conducted a clear strategy of trying to scare the people of Scotland into voting No even although they have contradicted themselves by grudgingly conceding that we could be a successful independent country. The Yes Campaign have opted instead to remain positive about Scotlands prospects and have concentrated on a long game. They have carefully taken each scare story such as Border Controls, Europe and the Currency and dismantled the No case. At the same time they have been keen to emphasise the many strengths of the population and the many resources we have at our disposal. The Unionists have been so focused on presenting a Negative case for independence they have neglected to present a Positive case for staying in the United Kingdom. Having a strong irreversible Scottish Parliament with increased powers within that United Kingdom is a vital component missing from their campaign. The fact that the Unelected House of Lords was recently able to reverse the power of the Scottish Parliament to determine our Renewable Energy Policy without the need for a democratic process reminded many north of the border how fragile the powers of the Scottish Parliament are under the current arrangement. It served as a timely reminder, if one was needed, that Westminster could revoke powers from Edinburgh back to London and there is very little we could do about it as things stand. More and more people in Scotland are becoming aware of the fragility of our democracy which is still controlled from London and it is driving more voters towards change. The question is not whether there should be change but how much change should there be. As the time draws nearer it will fall more on the Unionists to explain the change they have in mind, if any and how or when it will be delivered. The Pro-Independence campaign have already established how much change they want to see delivered and how they would deliver it and when it will be delivered. The Unionists are being deliberately coy about which powers they might give to Scotland and insist they will only discuss such powers after we vote No. The difficulty the people of Scotland have is that if we vote No and the Unionists then renege and do not give us any powers it will be too late because the opportunity to vote for independence will have gone. The difficulty the Unionists have is more and more Scots are coming to that conclusion and simply dont trust them to deliver more powers.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 01:13:23 +0000
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