With the Scottish Independence vote heading towards a break up of the union I am truly sad and nervous about the future for all parts of the UK.
I believe strongly in the benefit of Union; the United Kingdom, European Union even the United Nations. For all the structural failings that these organisations contain I truly believe we are better together and should find a way to make that work.
Both UKIP and the SNP make the same argument, that we would be better without our Unions, that a perceived loss of control could be regained, yet neither sees the inconsistency of supporting one union but not the other. I have no time for the political vision that UKIP has for us but I am more supportive of the politics that the SNP would follow, but should that make me more supportive of Scottish Independence? Specifically I am mostly in agreement with the Scottish Nationalists about the damage done by London Centric, England Centric policies that leave Scotland under performing.
There are serious obstacles facing an Independent Scotland, the best case scenario, in my view, would be for it to inherit the UK position in Europe and take on an independent currency. The worst case would be exclusion from the EU and a forced currency Union with the Pound. However, I feel these are only transitional obstacles and that within a generation, perhaps within as little as 10 years, Scotland will be making the advances it hopes for.
There is a risk that unintended consequence intervene, that without Scotland the remainder of the UK falls victim to anti-Europe mania and ends our time with the EU then the border with an EU Scotland could become fenced and policed far better than the Romans could have imagined.
I also feel the Scottish Independents, whilst criticising the politics of England, don't acknowledge why we have the policies we do and therefore ignore the changes that independence would bring. Money is attracted to power, and once Scotland regains power over itself it will also attract the attention of those that seek to influence policy. There is little evidence that Scottish people are very different to the English and therefore just as likely to end up voting in a way that turns Scotland towards the same policies it currently abhors.
Overall I am disappointed that the Unionist argument has become threatening, paternalistic and patronising and therefore driven people towards Independence. The Unionist argument should not have insisted that all is good, there needed to be honesty and humility, we should have been asking how we make the Union stronger. Indeed the discussions of the last twenty years should have been about improving our democracy throughout the UK; an idea that badly stalled under New Labour
Despite my sympathies with the current Scottish situation, and a belief that Scotland could become a stronger country outside of the UK I don't think it is worth risking the support of nationalist ideas, which appear to me as a form of divide and rule by the those that seek to steer the policies of our countries. I remain committed to Unionism and hope we can find a way to improve all our unionists institutions so that we do find strength in numbers and put aside our short term problems in favour of long term improvements. I want Scotland to be stronger, I want the UK to be stronger.
