Scottish Independence - a torn issue

It has reached the stage now where one can hardly move for news about the imminent referendum on Scottish independence. You do not need me to say it is an historic vote not just for the Scottish but Welsh, English and the Northern Irish.

This is no mere General Election. The wall-to-wall-to-wall coverage is fully deserved.

The make up of the United Kingdom, something I am largely proud to call myself a citizen of, will change forever.

Should the Scots vote Yes next Thursday then nationalists in both Wales and Northern Ireland are likely to start demanding further devolution from Westminster.

Even if they vote No more powers have been promised in Edinburgh for them to govern themselves.

 Carwyn Jones, leader of the Welsh Government, has already said whatever devolution is offered to Scotland post-referendum should be offered to Wales.

Welsh independence

Having only lived in Wales for little over a year my views on Welsh independence are naive and, probably ill-informed, but from my view point the few things Welsh Government have been in control of are in a rather sorry state. Scarcely a week goes by without a further startling story about the state of the NHS with waiting times increasing and frequent targets missed.

Wales's infrastructure is also severely lacking in some respects with no motorway to link the North and South of the country, something which -it is argued - ostracises the more rural North.  I remember being flabbergasted having driven four hours from Northumberland to Llandudno, when I was told to drive to Cardiff would require a further four hours.

One thing crucial to any Government is scrutiny, being kept to account, and it is the job of the party in opposition (along with the press) to provide a large part of that scrutiny. There should also be the threat that if one party makes mistakes, another will take over. It inevitably ends up in a cyclical process - look at the United States - but that does not mean it is a bad thing.

There can be no doubt independent Scottish and Welsh parliaments would both likely be overwhelmingly Labour, or at the very least overwhelmingly left wing.

I think this is a weakness of the Welsh Assembly in its current form. There are just 14 current Conservative assembly members, most of them from the North. They have very little chance in getting into power, especially with such thorough Labour heartlands in the South of the country.

Scottish independence

Having lived in Northumberland for the vast majority of my young life I am no stranger to Scotland or calls for Scottish independence but the idea of thinking of those just half an hours drive away as foreigners seems alien to me.


Scotland is a fiercely patriotic country with a strong national identity and history. It is also largely a socialist country, due its working class population. If they were to leave the United Kingdom it would upset the delicate balance in Westminster with the Conservative's much more likely to win a General Election.

A vote just by Scotland could thus have huge ramifications for the UK (or what's left of it) I grow old in.

Having grown up in the North East I can understand the feeling of being ignored by London-orientated politicians. HS2 will not directly benefit Newcastle nor the North East. The duelling of the A1 north of Morpeth (through to the Scottish Border ironically enough), has been demanded as long as I can remember with no sign of progress.

But I still feel we are stronger as a whole than as individual nations. The overarching issue is not that England is larger or superior - rather it is the inexorable pull of London, it's size simply overwhelming much of what should be a national agenda.

Population-wise London simply dwarfs the rest of the UK and that can lead Scots and Welsh and Northumbrians and everyone else to feel ignored.

More could, and should, be done to include those who do feel ignored, overlooked or underepresented. It is no good waiting until 10 days before the referendum to visit Scotland, this shows a large part of their problem. David Cameron appeared happy to let Scotland get on with it until the shift of power threatened to go against him.

He had no decent reason not to be more pro-active in the first place. Yes, this is Scotland's decision but, as I have said, it will affect the whole UK, something which is only now being bellowed by Cameron Clegg et all.

Put simply the UK's Prime Minister should not have waited until now to convince Scotland to stay and it is their taking granted they would vote No which shows just how little they understand their Northern neighbours.

Conclusion

Far be it from me to implore anyone how to vote. I do not know nearly enough about the whole affair and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Scotland to go it alone.

I will say very little seems to have been made clear about the future should they vote Yes but that doesn't mean to say they can't do it. I noted with some interest this week that Slovakia had done very well since splitting from Czechoslovakia, something not many predicted. In fact most thought it would struggle.

 Perhaps it will simply boil down to the optimists (yes) and the pessimists (no) but there can be no doubt whatever the result, the United Kingdom will not be the same again.