I was out of the country when the White Paper was released. Clearly, this was a very heavy read and I am sure many people resigned themselves to the Executive Summary. The Summary was still a fairly expansive document but easy enough to read.
I think we all understand the foundation of the White Paper.
Prior to the Your Scotland, Your Referendum consultation, the Scottish Government conducted the National Conversation between August 2007 and November 2009 inviting public comment on a range of potential changes to the country’s constitution.
It began with the publication of a discussion paper Choosing Scotland’s Future, and culminated in the publication of Your Scotland Your Voice, a White Paper laying out options supported by detailed policy papers.
The independence referendum consultation, Your Scotland, Your Referendum was launched by the First Minister on Burns Night, January 25, 2012, and closed at midnight on Friday, May 11, 2012. It attracted more than 26,000 responses. What a great response. From an electorate of around 4.3 million we got input from 0.6 of 1% and went on to use that as our vision?
On 26 November 2013 the White Paper was launched. The Scottish Government must have felt a sense of pride and purpose having followed a remarkable process of public engagement, conversation and decision making. Any democracy would have been rightly proud. If you are going to do something, do it right. I’m sure the Government must have felt they had achieved that first vital step. When we look back in time from our new independent country we could trace out a glorious end to end process that must surely be a blue-print for democracy.
BLOODY NAIVE!
Anyone following the such a sensible process must have recognise the certainty of outcome built in to each stage. Westminster must have been shaking in their shoes at the attention to detail and due process. NOT. This is not a criticism of the SNP or Scottish Government. This is a recognition of the potential of Westminster.
NO – THEY WERE KILLING THEMSELVES LAUGHING!
Scotland did the right thing. They conducted themselves with impunity. Their approach was above reproach.
SCOTLAND DIDN’T REALISE THEY HAD WALKED INTO A TRAP OF THEIR OWN DESIGN
The people of Scotland were ordering, downloading and sharing their copy of the White Paper or the Executive Summary to familiarise themselves with the NEW FUTURE, post referendum.
But, here’s the thing. The Westminster Machine had their best team assembled with their subject ‘White Paper’ in the laboratory of subversive thinking. They would have their own name for the White Paper. I think they would call it,
THE GIFT
Better Together produced their own counter proposal document that they condensed into a single word,
NAW!
This was British politics at its most familiar. ‘Whatever you say, they will say the opposite and louder’. Better Together produced absolutely nothing by way of a vision for Scotland. I fully understand why. If you produce nothing, you cannot be criticised on its contents – PRETTY BASIC.
On the other hand, we gifted Westminster 670 pages of thoughts and ideas they could throw up in the air, kick about and generally pummel. This is what Westminster do extremely well. They went through the White Paper, page by page, line by line, word by word and produced their counter attack. They simply gathered together their best shots, depth charges and upsetters and went on the offensive attacking every aspiration, every vision and every hope.
Out of that came the onslaught of lies, criticism, denial, jeering and threats – You want to remain in Europe? don’t be daft, you’ll be kicked out, back of the queue and probably not let back in. You’ll be ruined as a country. By the way, you’re definitely not getting to use OUR POUND. Get your own, and by the way, your credit will be in the gutter so nobody will lend you as much as a groat. Naturally, all your companies will up sticks and move to London. Unemployment will go through the roof, pensioners will be bankrupt and young people will never work in their miserable lives, ever. America, Russia, all of Europe, Oh, and the Pope will all hate you. Celebrities will gang up on you. Faslane will be the first to go with the loss of a million jobs (quote: Jackie Ballie) and your oil is on its last few squirts. And while we are on the subject of energy, your renewal energy technology is worthless and not worth investing in. Go on, vote YES – we bloody dare you, losers!
Oh, by the way, did we tell you, you are a nation of benefit junkies, hell bent on hanging on to the massive subsidies gifted to you by the hard working English people. Who, incidentally, can’t understand why you hate them all.
Oh, and we are telling you this because you are all to stupid the do anything about.
Oh, and another thing, you will be a foreign country, your family, the ones who will still talk to you, will need passports to visit you, if they can get past customs.
The Edinburgh Agreement guaranteed that the referendum would be conducted in a fair and transparent manner – so, we are probably OK so far? I don’t think so!
SO, WHAT SHOULD WE HAVE DONE?
Call me stupid, but after producing the White Paper I should have put it in a secure box, locked it away, let nobody see it and get the authors to swear on their lives not to reveal a word until after the referendum. The box would be marked – OPEN AFTER A YES VOTE
If anyone asked about the White Paper I would simply say we have a great vision for an independent Scotland. We look forward to putting that to the whole of the people of Scotland to gain their consensus. However, for now we must focus on winning the referendum and we have a simple question for just that purpose.
That said, just so we have something relevant to the question being asked in the referendum I have produced my abridged version of the White Paper called Why Independence. It contains no party politics, just a short history of our journey and a vision for Scotland that I passionately believe everyone would have bought into. There is also some proof to bear this out.
I believe this is more than enough information to enable us to answer the simple question posed –
And this is how it may have read:
Question: ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’
WHY INDEPENDENCE – An alternative White Paper.
THE HISTORY
Scotland is a country; and has been since the 6th century. It determined its own destiny through the Nobility and Chieftains. Well at least until around 1700. Following some lean years a small band of self interested, witless Scots from the Nobility to wealthy landowners invested between 25 and 50% of the country’s wealth in the ill-begotten Darien Scheme. This was a very early ‘get rich quick’ scam that ended in predicable disaster for Scotland. If this happened today it would probably be preceded by ‘My billionaire uncle has died and I must wind up his estate .. but I need your help, sir. Following the disaster came their financial bail-out from Westminster. This came at a high price and Scotland became joined at the hip with England under the Act of Union in 1707. Although this was long before democracy or citizen voting the union was a wholly asymmetrical one and Scotland was clearly the underdog.
Having ruled their own country for over 1,000 years from 1707 all that changed and Scotland was ruled from Westminster. The ordinary people of Scotland had no say whatsoever in this arrangement.
It is true that ants and bees have a subservience in their DNA. By contrast, the people of Scotland, like most creatures on this planet gravitate towards self determination. A lack of self determination in more akin to captivity or slavery or imprisonment than the natural human condition. So it is, that over time, the will of the Scottish people has slowly begun to seek self determination.
Of course, when you are in a state of subjugation it is extremely unlikely that your subjugaters will emancipate you unless it benefits them. Furthermore, when you are grossly overwhelmed in size, numbers, wealth and influence you will have a serious uphill struggle.
There are many reasons why Westminster may wish to retain control over Scotland. Some of the obvious reasons would include the fact that Scots were fierce soldiers. That would be very important to the British Empire that was built and sustained by military might. An evening with a warm fire, a few beers and a DVD of ‘The Cheviot, the stag and the black, black oil’ will give you another insight into the importance of Scot-land {with the emphasis on land} to Westminster and the ruling elite.
Even in the mid 19th century the industrial world was growing at a pace. The importance of oil was clearly understood even if the full magnitude of its potential would not be realised for many years to come. But, did you know that oil was first discovered on the East Coast of Scotland in 1851, that’s 1851. From that day, our fate as a nation was sealed; with a great lid!
Scotland as a country has developed and grown aspirations for self determination, probable since 1707. To Westminster, this would be nothing more than an itch that needed the occasional scratch.
In 1934 the Scottish National Party was formed from the National Party for Scotland and the Scottish Party; the brainchild of NPS’s John McCormick. The aspiration for self determination took on a formal dimension. Initially, SNP did not press for full independence, but Home Rule. Its leader, McCormick left the party in 1942 to form the Scottish Covenant Association. SCA was a non-partisan organisation [There, what did I say ]. Between the late 40’s and early 50’s the SCA petitioned for Home Rule and managed to achieve 2,000,000 signatures from a very much smaller electorate than that of today. [ Just image if they could have repeated that on 18 Sep 2014 – we wouldn’t be squabbling over a stupid vow – that is why Westminster would not accept Devo-max on the ballot paper – it was a slam dunk – this is my proof I spoke of]. Unfortunately, nothing came of this and the movement melted away. A lot of to’ing and fro’ing politically in Scotland achieved very little traction until a revitalised SNP with a clear policy on outright independence won the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary election; albeit as a minority Government. In 2011 the SNP became a majority Government with the same ambition. Some say, the 2011 Scottish Election was a mandate for independence and that should have prevailed.
Two previous referendi on Devolution caused landmark earthquakes. The 1979 referendum culminated in a no-confidence vote in Labour’s Jim Callaghan letting Thatcher take power. On the other hand, the 1997 referendum when Scotland was effectively cheated out of the result, culminated in the success of New Labour at Westminster and the setting up of the Scottish Parliament. It is generally believed this was a move to placate the Scots, especially in the light of allegations against Westminster that they had implanted spies and subversives into the SNP in the 1950’s; an accusation that was later proved to be CORRECT.
And so we are today. Scottish politics seem to have had more peaks than Scotland has Munros. However, with the passage of time, Scotland seems to be edging closer and closer to an independence they lost in 1707. 18 September 2014 sees the first independence referendum for Scotland.
I think it is fair to say that the pursuit for independence, up to a point has been driven by the human condition – that need to determine our own future; and what could be more natural?
Some have said we are ‘too wee, too poor and too stupid’.
TOO STUPID
Where do you start. Scotland is arguably one of the most, if not the most, intellectual nation in the world. If we have faults these tend to be too naive, too trusting, too caring and too sociable. In many respects Scots have shaped the modern world. Over the years we have stumbled upon facts about the great inventions and discoveries attributed to Scots. How many Scots are aware of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century when Scots and Scotland brought philosophy to the arts, to science, to sociology to industry. At that time Scotland was the intellectual powerhouse of Europe – which probable means the world. How many people know that Scots produced the blueprint for many countries legal system? How many people are aware of the prominence of Scots in financial services? The world knows that Scots dominated the world in heavy engineering. It is no coincidence that engineers portrayed in stories and films are invariably Scots. Scotty in Star Trek is a great example. How many people realise how prominent Scotland is in the field of medicine? Scotland is a world leader in renewable energy technologies. Scotland is a major player in the development of computer games. If you examine the higher echelons of the business world and politics you don’t have to look far to find Scots. Most Scots have no idea of the sheer magnitude of the Scots intellect and ingenuity – because we have not been taught Scottish history despite having a reputation as a world leader in education, and at the pinnacle of university education. In fact, Scottish history was not taught in Scottish schools until 2011, yes 2011. If we look around the world at countries that are well known for oppressing their people, one of the most obvious examples and the first place they start is the suppression of their education. Pakistan is a modern example of educational suppression; especially of females. Cambodia was a very brutal examples under Pol Pot. It is now incumbent on every Scot to inform themselves of our intellectual prowess. It is incumbent on our educators to teach our people about the intellectual gift we have been given that must be nurtured and developed.
I hope by now we can begin to realise that we are not too stupid as a nation. The first question we must ask ourselves is incredibly important – why are we being treated by the forces that would govern us as if we were too stupid?
TOO WEE
We are and we aren’t. We are certainly not too wee to succeed as an independent nation. However, we are too wee to succeed in the union of the United Kingdom. In a kingdom of nations that operates democratic principles, of sorts, and we are outnumbered 11 to 1 how could we ever have a say in our destiny. Mathematically we are insignificant. In a general election if Scotland had a 100% turnout and England had a 10% turnout, Scotland would still be outnumbered.
Numerically we would be about 115 from 250 in the table of countries by population size. Oddly enough our position remains unchanged when we consider our physical size or area. However, when we consider our total Gross Domestic Product, GDP Scotland is about 40 from 200. If Scotland was too wee to be an independent country then something between 60 and 80% of the independent countries in the world are in a lot of trouble!
TOO POOR
Clearly, Scotland is around 40th from 200 countries in terms of our GDP. But that is not exactly true. If Scotland was an independent country there are two very significant factors. First of all we would have total control over our oil and gas revenues. The high estimate for our reserves is £1.5 Trillion. Of course this can be very misleading because there are many factors that influence this figure. Market prices, the stage we are at in the extraction process and how much we are prepared to invest in futures development and extraction. Suffice to say, it is a very big number and with independence comes control over the levers that determine just how big it is. Estimates, with independence put Scotland somewhere between 7th and 14th richest country in the world. Where we are in the ranking does not matter, what matters is that we would be a rich country as every other oil producing country is – why would Scotland be the exception?
However, it is not just about oil. Oil forms 15 – 20% of Scotlands GDP. Scotland has massive coal reserves, huge fishing grounds, phenomenal tourist and visitor interests, the world’s number 1 whiskey industry and a world class education system that attracts students from all over the world. Scotland expects to be totally self sufficient in renewable energy by 2020 and has massive potential in the highest value commodity of all; drinking water. Scotland has achieved its current wealth without self-determination and despite being an extremely sparsely populated country. Just imagine what Scotland could achieve if it had complete control of the economic levers and the ability to attract the best people from all over the world to join our society and help us all prosper.
Still think we’re too poor?
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
With everything Scotland has to offer, our young people must be so excited to join and embrace our economy and grow with us; benefiting from the success to which they have contributed – except they are leaving in droves. They can’t wait to get away from the poverty and lack of opportunity. Westminster controls Scotland. Powers are devolved to the Scottish Parliament and some of our money is returned through the Barnett formula. However, the UK is in massive debt and clearing this debt, in the region of £1.7 Trillion will not happen in our life time or even that of our children. While Scotland is an asset rich country under total domination from Westminster, they will never set us free and face financial ruin themselves. For no other reason Scotland can never prosper as a country in its own right. In fact Scotland has been on pocket money for 300 years. This fact becomes very pertinent when we consider the fact that Scotland is committed to doing many things they have the power to do. Unfortunately, they have a finite budget, or allowance from Westminster. If they channel additional funding into one area some other area must suffer.
What kind of a heritage is that for our children and their children and so on. The best we can offer is more of the same. We cannot possibly aspire beyond our current situation because there are far too many ‘snouts in the trough’ from England, one of the densest populated countries in the world with absolutely no control over its borders and an immigration policy that is out of control with no brakes.
Our only hope of a meaningful legacy for the generations that follow us is to have the bravery of spirit and courage of our convictions to wrest control from Westminster and trust in our abilities and that of our children and their successors. That cannot be wrong.
It is always nice to finish on a high note. In this case that is not possible. There is a great fear that some Scots will behave like the ‘battered wife’. Decades, generations and centuries of subjugation of the people of Scotland has left many Scots demoralised, institutionalised and afraid of change. Too often the fate of the battered wife, or the battered husband for that matter, is sealed. Within themselves they know its not right, they know they should not continue, they know it will never get better but they are unable to break away. When elder folks are taken into care, they resist and try all in their power to get out. After a surprisingly short time they become institutionalised and wild horses could not drag them out. Many people in Scotland find themselves in this position and it is a massive leap of faith and a huge challenges to get them to break free. They will never do it for themselves. They must try to do it for their successors. We must help them.
Scotland may be our country at present; but we are only borrowing it from our children!
So this would be my White Paper. Totally devoid of party politics. Some may argue over the historical facts, but in the end the conclusions will remain the same.
The Establishment cannot go through this and tells us we can’t use the pound. They can’t tell us that we must retain our nuclear deterrent. They can’t tell us that we will be kicked out of the EU with no immediate return path. The can’t tell us that businesses will abandon us because they will see the opportunities and not the threats. Politicians and the establishment can only attack you if you allow them to lure you into a political arena. At all costs this must be avoided –
ITS THE OLDEST TRICK IN BOOK
When we get our next referendum we must fundamentally understand that –
IT IS OURS TO TAKE – NOT THEIRS TO GIVE
We must make 18 September 2014 go down in Scottish history as the marker, the day we learned how to win. Then we must turn that into a win at the next opportunity.