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Today has to be a day to concentrate on Scottish independence. Reflecting on this there are parallels with Ukraine. In that case you have centuries of a common past and a break from that past can bring nothing less than disaster to ordinary people. The main difference is that, in the case of Scotland, you have no external power interested in fomenting trouble.
But this seems to be 'the logic of history' (put in quotation marks quite consciously). We are living in an era where everything from economies, the nation state - and living systems - are breaking apart - and collapsing.
So perhaps there is a certain inevitability about this whatever way the vote ('too close to call') goes.
All that notwithstanding, my sentiments align fully with those of George Galloway who says moves to independence for Scotland ARE NOTHING LIKE similar struggles of the Palestinians and the Irish - both of whom have seen foreign occupation.
But this seems to be 'the logic of history' (put in quotation marks quite consciously). We are living in an era where everything from economies, the nation state - and living systems - are breaking apart - and collapsing.
So perhaps there is a certain inevitability about this whatever way the vote ('too close to call') goes.
All that notwithstanding, my sentiments align fully with those of George Galloway who says moves to independence for Scotland ARE NOTHING LIKE similar struggles of the Palestinians and the Irish - both of whom have seen foreign occupation.
Scottish
independence: David Cameron is becoming the George Bush of Britain
He
ignored the referendum and – worse – the Scottish people
Towards
the end of 2008, a debate erupted amongst American historians
and pundits
about whether George W. Bush was the worst president of all time, or
merely one of the worst. The case against him rested on a wilful,
unnecessary foreign war born of lies that consumed thousands of
American lives and untold wealth, and laid waste to poor, benighted
Iraq.
And so David Cameron will be the British Prime Minister who lost Scotland and fell out of Europe. As a politician he will be a failure. But for the UK he will be far worse – an historic disaster.
And how unnecessary, how fecklessly incompetent it will all have been. The mistake was not to agree to a Scottish referendum. To the contrary, this was a progressive decision, rightly celebrated, that recognized a people’s democratic right to self-determination. The colossal mistake, rather, was to not fight that contest himself – to fail to commit his government and the nation to its own self-preservation. By handing the campaign over to his political opponents on the assumption that he could never speak to the Scottish heart, it appeared – and he allowed us all to infer – that he did not care. He was too busy to keep the country together. He had more important things to do.
Read
more: Scottish
independence live
On
a knife edge: Two polls put No at 52%
Welcome
to the nation formerly known as UK
Analysis:
What Yes would mean - the experts' view
Worse
still is the extent to which this is the story of a death foretold.
Twenty-six years ago another conservative leader held a referendum,
this one on his continued rule. He, too, lost what should have been a
winnable contest with a campaign based on threats and fear that never
listened to voters and took the outcome for granted.The recent film
“No” depicts how a team
of young, underfunded, brash opponents mounted a campaign based on
hope, joy, and a deep belief in the decency of ordinary Chileans, to
win an unlikely victory and topple the dictator. I lived through
those events, and the echoes in Scotland of fresh hope and a
different future are striking.David Cameron is no Augusto Pinochet, of course. But he has repeated the dictator’s blunders on a far larger scale. He should have spent the last year showing (not just telling) Scottish voters that he, the government, and the British people love Scotland, value Scotland, respect its history, its immense contributions to knowledge, industry, the arts… the list goes on; the argument was an easy one to make. He should have explained that peoples intertwined by history, geography and blood belong together in one nation. He needed to argue passionately, as though he cared, that the Scots are British and the British are Scots, and absence diminishes both. He needed to build a positive, inclusive campaign of hope and possibility that convinced Scots that the politicians pushing for independence are scoundrels bent on self-aggrandisement.
But instead he ignored the referendum and – worse – the Scottish people. He sent others to win them over with a small-minded campaign based on fear; a campaign that ensured that even a narrow victory for the Union would be pyrrhic, grudging, and rather than settling matters would entrench divisions and bitterness on both sides.
In another country and another time, an American president rallied his people by explaining that they had “nothing to fear but fear itself”. In doing so he lit a candle in their darkest hour, ennobled them, and led them to a greater dawn. Cameron told Scots they should be afraid. In doing so he diminished them. Now they are set to return the favour.
Jean-Paul Faguet is Professor of the Political Economy of Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science
George
Galloway on Scottish independence - Sky News - 9th September 2014
George
Galloway on Scotland Decides - The Big Big Debate - BBC 1 - 11th
September 2014
As
George Galloway says, Scotland is not going to be a “cool-water
Cuba”. The leader of the Scottish Independence Party is no
progressive. If he is gambling on oil he has already lost
Scottish
independence: Five reasons Salmond is secretly hoping for a No vote
Is
the huge gamble on oil keeping him up at night?
17
September, 2014
He
has made realising the dream of an independent Scotland his life’s
work. But as the nitty-gritty issues behind that dream have been
debated endlessly over recent months deep down is the leader of the
‘yes’ campaign is having second thoughts? Here are five things
that maybe keeping Alex Salmond up at night, and why he may be
secretly praying his countrymen vote No tomorrow.
1)
He’s taking a huge gamble on oil. All of the Yes Campaign’s
budgeting for the future depends on the ability to raise a certain
amount of revenue from North Sea Oil. But that is horribly
unpredictable. All of the published predictions – both optimistic
and pessimist are just that: predictions. It’s a pretty scary thing
to base the future of an independent country on.
2)
He can’t guarantee NHS spending in an independent Scotland –
despite what he’s said. The NHS north of the border faces the same
problems that it does in England – a rising elderly population, new
and expensive treatments and restricted money to pay for them unless
you put up taxes. While the rest of the UK is giving a chunk of money
to the Scottish Government – he can blame them for the cutbacks.
When that stops he can’t.
3)
He knows – but can’t admit it in the campaign – that the rest
of the UK will never accept a currency union. Pressure on English
politicians will be too great from the rest of the country ever to
agree to a union where England takes responsibility for another
country’s debt but has no control over its spending. Even if it was
the sensible thing to do the politics of England in a
post-independence world are such that it would never happen.
4)
In the short term some businesses – and maybe a lot of businesses –
will reduce their presence in Scotland. Negotiations for independence
will create uncertainty, and businesses whose only loyalty is to
their shareholders hate uncertainty. They will not wait to ‘see how
things turn out’ – they will unsentimentally make plans for the
worst, and implement them before a final agreement over separation is
reached. That will not be poplar in Scotland.
5)
But if it’s a no vote then none of this is a problem. His
Government gets more power, more money and can carry on blaming
London if things go wrong. The SNP will cruise to another victory in
the Holyrood elections on the back of the independence campaign –
which he will be seen to have won even if he loses. He maybe scathing
about Devo Max now – but just two years ago he wanted that to be an
option on the referendum question. He may be secretly hoping that’s
what he gets now.
The
Guardian's live coverage is available HERE
With
Scotland's independence referendum just day away, a group of jokers
decided to lighten the tone of the debate by erecting a spoof border
post at Carter Bar, the point at which the A68 highway crosses from
England into Scotland -
LIVE UPDATES http://on.rt.com/5z7gg8
#Indyref:
Pranksters erect fake border posts between Scotland and England
LIVE UPDATES http://on.rt.com/5z7gg8
‘What’s left is us’: Final-day push before historic Scottish independence vote
RT,
17 September, 2014
Campaigners
on both sides of Scotland's independence referendum are trying to
sway over 4 million registered voters in a last-day push before the
historic vote gets underway.
Voters
in Scotland will head to polls on Thursday to decide whether they
want to stay in the 307-year-union with the rest of the UK or become
independent.
Turnout
is expected to be massive, with 4,285,323 people having registered to
vote by the September 2 deadline. With 2012 Scottish government
figures estimating 4,410,288 people aged 16 and over reside in
Scotland, up to 97 percent of eligible voters could turn out to cast
their ballots.
Three
new polls, one by Opinium for the Daily Telegraph, another by ICM for
the Scotsman, and a third by Survation for the Daily Mail, were
published on Tuesday evening. With undecided voters excluded, they
all suggested a lead for ‘No’ of 52 percent to 48 percent in
favor of independence.
Alistair
Darling, the head of the ‘No’ campaign, told the BBC that Scots
should have “no doubt you can
have stronger powers to raise the money you need and it doesn’t
matter what’s happening in the rest of the UK.”
“I
think people are clear that the three non-nationalist parties are
promising more powers in relation to tax and in relation to welfare
on top of more powers that have already been promised,” he
said. “I believe you can get a better, stronger Scotland
within the UK. We’ve all built the UK together and benefited from
pooling resources in good times and bad.”
Alex
Salmond, the head of the ‘Yes’ campaign, told the BBC. “The
central mistake that the ‘No’ campaign has made is to tell the
people of Scotland that the land of Adam Smith is not capable of
running its own matter financially.”
He
dismissed the new deal offered by Westminster to grant Scotland
greater powers as “the
same package that was offered last spring and was repacked in
desperation.”
On
the final day of campaigning, in a letter to the people of Scotland,
Salmond wrote, "The
talking is nearly done. The campaigns will have had their say. What's
left is just us - the people who live and work here. The only people
with a vote. The people who matter.”
Better
Together leader Alistair Darling and former Prime Minister Gordon
Brown will lead a ‘Love Scotland, Vote No’ rally in Glasgow on
the eve of the vote.
Darling
said, "I'm not going. This
is my country. I'm staying." He
told the Today program that he thought there would be a ‘No’
vote, but even if people were to vote for independence, he would
do "the best I
possibly can" for
Scotland.
Darling
also warned that, whichever way the vote went, there would be hard
work healing divisions in Scottish society which had emerged during
the campaign.
About
1,500 independence supporters bearing Saltire flags, badges and blue
campaign T-shirts gathered for a rally in Glasgow on Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile,
14 former British armed forces chiefs warned in an open letter in the
Sun that “a vote for
separation would undermine both Scotland and the rest of the United
Kingdom’s defense.”
“At
risk is the most successful alliance in history and one which has
seen men and women from all parts of the country play their part in
securing the liberties we now enjoy,” the
letter stated.
Indeed,
fundamental issues will be on the negotiation table if Scotland votes
for independence, such as currency union, EU membership, immigration,
healthcare and what share of the UK’s national debt Scotland would
take.
Meanwhile,
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has admitted he is "nervous" ahead
of the Scots going to the polls, but said he is confident they will
vote against a split.
"Well
of course everyone who cares about our United Kingdom - and I care
passionately about our United Kingdom - is nervous," he
said to reporters during a visit to Fleet, Hampshire.
Cameron
also emphasized that he will not stand down if Scotland votes for
independence.
"My
name is not on the ballot paper,” he
said. “What's on the
ballot paper is 'Does Scotland want to stay in the United Kingdom, or
does Scotland want to separate itself from the United Kingdom?
"That's
the only question that will be decided on Thursday night. The
question about my future will be decided at the British general
election coming soon."
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