Voting Yes – The Heart Of The Matter

The “Yes” campaign have three hundred years of repression to call upon to motivate its voters but what are the arguments that back up that sentiment?

The “Yes” campaign has developed from being a grassroots hotbed of home rule fanatics, perhaps a little more starry eyed than entirely necessary, into a huge coalition of forces and organizations that all share an interest in an independent Scotland. From the moment Alex Salmond became First Minister in the surprise SNP victor in the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary Elections, the referendum was going to be a focal point of his policies, and the zenith of that ambition rolls around this Thursday.

Vote Yes For Freedom

• Disillusion with Westminster big driving force

• Scots want to rule themselves

• A “Yes” vote the only way to secure their own power

Of course it has been very simple for the pro-independence campaign to play on the underlying messages that have been playing through the media over the last couple of decades. The seeking, facilitating and indeed imposition of “freedom” and “democracy” have permeated the very culture of the time and what can be more free and democratic than independence? This advocacy of self-determinism has been central to the “Yes” campaign as it has, more often than not, played to the heart rather than the head, and very successfully so.

Most central to the independence movement’s arguments is the undeniable fact that Scotland has been denied democracy by any real measure. Of the 59 MPs that represent Scottish constituencies in the Westminster parliament, only one since 2001 has been a Conservative and yet it is a Conservative government that they find themselves ruled by. This manifest and evident anomaly has been a button issue with the “Yes” campaign and is an issue that appears to have more legs than a ZZ Top slot machine.

The bias towards England of an English parliament that just happens to rule Scotland too is a key image on which the “Yes” campaign have focused during the campaign as it represents the inherent inequality both of power and spending in the current situation. The unjust nature of this arrangement has played well with younger voters who hang out online gambling sites in the UK won’t be switched off should a vote for independence win the day on Thursday. But beyond this over-arching desire for “FREEDOM!” (scream it like you’re Mel Gibson, only without the antisemitism) what does an independent Scotland have going for it that one in the union would not?

Tax And Spend For Scotland

One of the core issues is economic with an independent Scotland able to divest itself of the distant control of the Treasury thus being able to levy taxes and spend the resultant income as it saw fit rather than live within the unfair constraints of the British government’s spending policies, especially as that government wasn’t one it had voted for. The campaign points to the revenues from North Sea oil and gas, the world famous whiskey industry and the funds that tourism brings in each year as being more than adequate for a small nation’s needs.

They also, perhaps wryly, point out that in the future England will need to buy drinking water from Scotland, and that England will need to do something about Faslane by 2020. Faslane is the base of the British Navy’s nuclear submarines that constantly patrol the deep as part of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, but an independent Scotland would be nuclear free within six years and they’d have to move on, or, one suspects, pay staggering amounts to be able to stay. Spending on these Trident submarines has been another issue on which the “Yes” campaign has stood.

But could the removal of Westminster’s economic control and the reduction of spending on Trident offset the drain on income that the welfare state, health service, pensions and childcare? The “Yes” campaign certainly claims so although in the short term there may well be difficulties to overcome, a point which they counter by saying they would be Scottish problems being handled by Scottish people rather than Scottish problems about which they have to lobby what is tantamount to a foreign parliament.

It is hard to over-estimate the degree to which there is a resentment amongst Scots that the conservative policies of privatization and public spending cuts have been foisted upon them. Certainly this hasn’t been enough to swing everyone, but there is a sizable proportion of Scotland that neither trusts nor likes the English parliament. It seems ever more Scottish gambling laws made under an independent government would be fairer, whatever the economic fallout that might ensue. Indeed that social fairness has also played well for the “Yes” campaign.

Freedom And Democracy, But Not Here

Perhaps being flayed with their own whip the British government that proudly stood for Freedom and Democracy ™ in the Iraq war is now having to argue against it being exercised by one of their nearest neighbors whilst the “Yes” campaign get to point out time and time again that an independent Scotland would not so easily enter into bizarre modern day colonialist adventures like Iraq, Afghanistan and (by the time you read this) probably Syria, saving both money and lives. Membership of NATO and the EU might temporarily be suspended or retracted but that would be offset by the inherent fairness gained.

The ability for an independent Scotland to create better social justice for itself is perhaps undeniable, although the “No” campaign have certainly tried their best, and this is perhaps no more evident in the fact that whilst the SNP (Scottish National Party) are leading the charge towards independence, actually gaining it would probably rule them out of power for the foreseeable future as Labour supporters still dominate the political landscape. This is pointed to by the campaign as proof this isn’t a party political matter at all but one of principle.

Alex Salmond himself is perhaps not the best spokesman for the cause, his performances during the televised debates failing to land the body blows that could have knocked aside the somewhat spuriously economic arguments of Alistair Darling, but this is more than made up for by his clear determination and passion for an independent Scotland regardless of the difficulties or problems they will inevitably face as they attempt to leave the shadow of the UK parliament and stand on their own political feet in the wake of a pro-independence vote.

The “Yes” campaign has come a long way, a year ago those into internet betting in the UK could have got massively silly odds against their winning the vote, today you’ll find Bet365 is offering 1/4 on a vote against independence but BetVictor is offering a very tempting 11/4 on a “Yes” vote. With the polls still showing a margin of error closeness perhaps the bookies are gambling news in their knowledge is beyond that of the average voter. Will they be right? We’ll all have to find out on Thursday when the people of Scotland go to the polls in the closest political race the UK has seen in a hundred years.

Read more about the Scottish Independence gamble.