Since the referendum Scotland has embarked on a renaissance that even the optimism of the YES campaign could never have imagined in their wildest dreams.
Scots have almost been conditioned to accept that it is their nature to be the ‘didn’t quite make it’ nation. As an old Partick Thistle supporter I know that feeling all to well. Because of the sheer dominance of the traditional media, the image of Scotland is presented the way the media wish to present it. A typical example is football. The media chose to elevate football to a position of importance that is unbelievably exaggerated, to portray a view of the Scottish psyche. You can no more gain an understanding of the true nature of Scotland from the performance of the Scottish football team than you can get an understanding of Russia from a feature on Lada by Top Gear.
Warning: If we accept the Scottish football team analogy, sure, we will always be a nation of ‘didn’t quite makes its’. For me, the Scottish National football team is just like Partick Thistle. We ‘fluke’ a result and dine out on the glory for years. But this is not an accurate or even valid analogy for Scotland; united behind a football team? But let’s look at unity – nothing to do with football.
Togetherness or unity? Now that is a different story. In Scotland, that has always been an alien concept. There has never been anything, anything like ‘together’ in Scotland. When you go back in history, you discover that Scotland has never been any different.
Scotland is known all over the world for two specific things:
Division is the first. Scotland is world class at division. If you go to the most remote place on earth – if you travelled to an orbital satellite and announced you were from Scotland, they couldn’t tell you where Scotland was, but they would ask you if you were Celtic or Rangers.
The divisions in Scotland are legend. When I came to Glasgow from Belgium I discovered I was a ‘sassenach’. As a Belgian, my dad sent us to a Catholic school – now I was a Fenian rather than a ‘Proddy’. When I travelled to Edinburgh I discovered that I was Glega scum. When I travelled up north the highlanders would shut up shop rather than serve a lowlander or cross the road to avoid you.
The little history we got on Scotland tells the stories of the clans. The area between two clans should really be referred to as the ‘battleground’. As a teenager in Glasgow, in the ‘bad old days’, Glasgow had a gang culture which most people in Scotland couldn’t even begin to imagine. There was no other place in Britain, perhaps the world with a gang culture like Glasgow – and that is no exaggeration – I was there. I remember one of the national papers produced a gang map of Glasgow marking out the various territories for all the main gangs, like the Fleet, the Tongs, The Drum, the Govan Team, the Scurvy, the Billy Boys etc, etc. Naturally, the paper got it wrong, so mayhem reigned until the territory was reclaimed.
So, when you think back to a time when Scotland was united as a nation; one thing is certain – you’re dreamin’
The other thing Scotland is famous for, all over the world in individuals. Scotland has produced far more famous people than any other nation in history. The list is almost endless. I did a blog some time ago on the Scottish Enlightenment in the eighteenth century – that almost says it all – and that is just the tip of the iceberg. In my little town alone, Helensburgh, we can boast of John Logie Baird, Henry Bell, Deborah Kerr, Angus Bonner Law and many more.
Despite the sheer volume of famous individuals from Scotland throughout history the one thing we have never been able to do is ….. No, not win the World Cup ….. come together as a nation.
From the dawn of creation, marching forward in time throughout Scotland we have had division, division, division and as time marches on, we get to 2014 and suddenly ….
IT STOPS. IT’S OVER. IT’S NOT COMPLETE, BUT IT’S HERE, IT’S REAL – SCOTLAND SUDDENLY UNITED.
Some people may say that Scotland divided itself between YES and NO in the referendum. Yes, there was a division – but somehow it does not feel like a division. The unity across every conceivable social division that became the hallmark of the YES campaign has taken root and is spreading like wildfire. Many NO voters were persuaded in the heat of the campaign to opt for what they saw as the safe option. Very quickly, many of the last minute lies unfolded and they felt a genuine sense of betrayal. When they watched Brown ‘wax lyrically’ about a Vow for more powers, they may not have realised he spoke with no authority and his script was produced by the Daily Record. Many people were persuaded by the threat of job losses at TSB if there was a YES vote; only to discover these losses were already decided. Very many people were persuaded that the oil was running out; then a couple of days later they announced further massive finds – what a stroke of luck?? Many of these people have now realised they were duped. More importantly, The YES Alliance are welcoming converts like Christmas come early.
Alex Salmond summed this up with another great football quote – or rather lampoon – when he said, ‘They think it’s all over ….. well, it isn’t now!’ Pure genius!
We have a unique situation in the UK now. It is clear that the Conservatives are marching to the beat of the UKIP drum. I suspect UKIP are also, directly or indirectly dictating the behaviour of the Labour Party. It is absolutely clear that SNP are writing the Labour script in Scotland. If I can use an analogy on Labour, the head, body, arms and legs of the Labour Party are in Westminster – but their balls are in Scotland. If you want to get control of a man, don’t grab him by the arm or the head …….
And that is where control of WM Labour rests. The SNP have a very firm grip. and they are not letting go!
But we must remember that the Labour party are very important in Scotland and they have delivered immense benefits and have served Scotland very well in the past. The problem is the current lot are as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike. Nobody sees this more clearly than Labour for Independence. Labour for Independence have a massive role to play in Scotland going forward – probably a pivotal role. We must all be very clear and make the distinction between Labour members and supporters who represent the aspirations of the Scots as distinct from the self interested WM Labour lot in residence at the Scottish Labour Branch Office.
Just as the people of Scotland throw their weight behind SNP, and by God they have done that in spades; but they must also throw their weight behind Labour for Independence, the Greens, the Scottish Socialist Party and any other SCOTTISH political party or independent. If we can make that happen then we can have a truly all embracing political landscape in Scotland representing the many and diverse shades of Scottish political, economic and social opinion. And while we are about it, we must express our support for Plaid Cymru [read about it] and also the political aspirations of English people especially in the north of England who want a better deal for their communities.
I have always argued for a true Coalition Government for Scotland; as opposed to the ‘lap-dog’ collaboration in Westminster. I will continue to argue for a Scottish Political environment driven by policies and not parties. This dismisses the extremely damaging concepts of Party Whips and confrontational politics we see every day in Westminster. I want every major political initiative or issue to be a beauty contest. A contest to find the best solution, regardless of who came up with it. For example, what do we do about Trident. We may have half a dozen different perspectives. Put them in the melting pot, have a grown up debate and come up with a range of options that we can either agree on or agree to take to the Scottish people if their is a big decision to be taken or if the ramifications of the decision are so great that we must ensure we carry the full weight of the people. If we don’t, we go back to the drawing board and keep coming back until we have a consensus – no matter how long it takes. That, for me, is proper politics.
The referendum proved to the people of Scotland that, regardless of what side they were on, Scotland can do proper politics. For a start, we got 85% of Scots residents out to vote – that was a great start, and we can do much better.
So, here’s the thing. Change doesn’t usually just happen for no reason; and the change in Scotland did not just happen for no reason. Just let’s remind ourselves why this change happened, to help us understand that it was not a fluke. It was not a chance occurrence, it was a sustainable and irreversible set of events.
The current two party system in the UK – DOESN’T WORK
A country with a dominant political party owing allegiance to another country – DOESN’T WORK
A political system that elects a Government based on a minority of the electorate and the vast minority of the people – DOESN’T WORK
A political system that polices itself and has the power to cover up it’s own dirty doings – DOESN’T WORK
A political system where you get the policies of the ruling party regardless of whether they are the best or worst for the countries that it rules – DOESN’T WORK
A system where the vast wealth of your country is taken from you to support the aspirations of a political party that has no support or mandate in your country – DOESN’T WORK
A country where the vast majority of it’s people are vehemently opposed to the very existence and continuance of nuclear weapons yet plays host to the citing, expansion and stockpiling of Europes’ largest nuclear arsenal with all its risks and fall out – DOESN’T WORK
A country that aspires to maintain its’ relationship with the EU for 40 years yet may find itself extracted from that relationship with no say in the matter – DOESN’T WORK
A country whereby the rules of ‘so called’ democracy prevail such that you are always outnumbered 11:1 and therefore NEVER have a say – DOESN’T WORK
A country where your own Government fights to maintain a true National Health Service and free education for all, despite their budget being dictated by another over-riding Government – DOESN’T WORK
A country where the media is almost totally dominated and dictated by another country that has a vested interest in dictating policy in your country – DOESN’T WORK
So, let me make a list of the things that DO WORK,
INDEPENDENCE
There, that didn’t take too long …….