Wide ears and short tongues are best…..
I guess I’m no different from most folks; when I have a decision to make I have a hard time making it just with my head. Much of the process of actually reaching a decision involves my heart.
Now I wouldn’t say I’m much of a political animal. Well if I am a political animal then I would be something like a panda or an elephant rather than a pitbull or the likes. OK I confess I’ve been known to shout at the TV or radio when listening to Prime Minister’s question time. Actually come to think of it maybe the fact that I DO listen to Prime Minister’s question time makes me a bit of a political animal – so yes I do get caught up with it all, but that’s healthy, right?
At the moment there is a HUGE debate raging in the UK about whether Scotland should move towards independence. Being the good Scottish person that I am I feel I have a duty to inform myself about what this actually means should I get the opportunity to vote in a referendum. There is only one problem – tracking down factual, impartial information about what this may actually mean for Scotland and how, in reality, it might impact on little old me and mine.
I fidgeted uncomfortably on the couch watching the news last night because there was no attempt by the politicians (on both sides) to debate this in any way that didn’t sound like the process was less to do with independence and more to do with Scotland DIVORCING itself from England. Yep divorce is a good way to describe it…. because at the moment it’s sounding a lot like this…..
England to Scotland- “You’ll not be able to survive without me AND by the way you have no legal right to try.”
Scotland to England- “Is it a fight yur waantin? Of course there’s a legal process for this and we don’t need your say so. Oh and by the way we’ve always paid our own way. If you think we can’t survive without you think again pal. Anyway we’ve got loads of other pals, our tourist numbers are up by 8% in the last nine months.
England to Scotland- “You’re kidding yourself on you’ve not really thought about this have you?”
Scotland to England- “Whit – don’t be daft we’ve been thinking about this since 1707!”
England to Scotland- “Right well be like that then, so what are you going to do now?”
Scotland talking to itself – “Aye, what are we going to do now?”
Honestly if that doesn’t sound like a divorce then I don’t know what and this little Scottish person remains confused about the whole situation. I should point out that I’m in no way anti-English, but I guess I’m pro Scottish. I’m proud of my Scottish heritage and my heart truly sang back in 1999 when we finally got our Scottish Parliament. This however is a whole different ballgame.
What worries me though is that like divorce there seems to be a huge divide that has sprung up that means any sort of sensible discussion remains an impossible dream. It upsets me when I watch the House of Commons debate and see politicians, during really important debates, checking their ebay purchases, or whatever it is they are doing with their Blackberry. It makes me visibly bristle when I see them shouting at each other or laughing and making fun of a politician because of a statement they’ve made. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE RUNNING OUR COUNTRY!
So I confess I am nowhere near reaching an informed stance on all of this but being the canny Scot that I am I know that ‘nae man can tether time or tide’ [1] so I will do my best to get up to speed and try to consider all of this objectively, engaging my head and not just my heart. There is an old Scottish proverb that says ‘twelve highlanders and a bagpipe make a rebellion’. I just hope that in the months to come when tensions are running high that we also remember something my granny used to say, “never let your feet run faster than your shoes!” 
So a political animal is really not me you see but for those who we have voted into power – listen up, “these are really important times – put yur Blackberries away and pay attention!”
I think we need to be careful that our hearts don’t rule our heads on this one.
[1] Robert Burns, Tam o’ Shanter.
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Well maybe have a chat to the Czechs and Slovaks? They did it about 10 years ago. Though it would be different there would be similarities. And don’t forget the EU controversy that is playing with the UK at present as well. The full picture is huge!
But as a non affected outsider, it is pretty fun to read about it
They were discussing this on the radio this morning and in light of the EU controversy there is certainly much to think about. Politically it’s quite exciting – but it doesn’t half get me going
Thanks for stopping by.
I’m English and I’ve also watched this on TV. My immediate reaction is. Funny how people can be Scottish and Welsh, but I can’t be English. Nor do the Enlgish have their own Parliament. I think it’s great the way the scots cling to their heritage.
However, if the Scots do go it alone it should mean alone and they should NOT receive any handhouts from the Enlgish and Welsh taxpayers.
United we stand divided we fall.
Hello Piglet, it’s lovely to hear from you. Yes it is strange how we see ourselves. For example if I am ever required to fill in the box that says ‘nationality’ I always write ‘British’. I also think that sport, such as the Olympics, the World Cup and the Six Nations for example provide opportunities for our Scottish, English, Welsh teams/sportsmen an women to participate for ‘their country’. I think that’s a positive thing so on many levels all of our identities, whether we are English or Scottish can be fluid, despite the fact that we are part of the UK. Like me you also flag up the issue of finance and I think that the big debate I would like to hear thrashed out is ‘does Scotland get more out of the Union than it puts in?’ – nobody seems to want to take this debate on. I think that in some respect it is more helpful not to think in terms of whether we would be better or worse off, it’s just not as simple as that, but I do think your right in that it would be a requirement for us to stand on our own two feet as a nation and deal with our problems. I think that issues like health, which are devolved are addressed by our Scottish Parliament and I think it’s right and proper that this is a devolved issues as Scotland and England in terms of health issues are significantly different, therefore a different response is required. My understanding is that a response to address Scottish health issue isn’t easy to achieve with the current powers our Parliament has. As with most of these things though it does come down to finance and of course the big debate here is North Sea Oil revenues. This of course changes the figures quite drastically depending on how one looks at this issue as, although the revenue figures for North Sea Oil are falling they are still roughly sitting about 6 billion per year. If this figure is taken into consideration then my understanding is that the revenues Scotland provides is more than it get back in public spending?
It is certainly interesting times and of course we must also remember that the UK doesn’t exist in a bubble – globally we are all facing financial challenges. Thanks Piglet for taking the time do pop in and leave a comment. It’s been really helpful and has stimulated my thinking lots
I’m from Texas and occasionally you’ll see one of our political figures stand up and threaten, “that’s it, we’ll secede and form our own nation if you won’t get out of our way” (like our Governor) We also occasionally get yahoos who show up from other states, declare themselves the rightful president of the Republic of Texas and try to manuever to have all elected officials removed, because they’re serving illegally in our country (of Texas). None of this is taken very seriously, but is more indicative of our love of being Texans and reminiscing about those few years that we were independent from the US. I know if anyone were serious about make a move to leave the US they would have an actual hard time selling it to the rest of us – we rely too much on our federal government and frankly, as a state, we’re not doing well financially in comparison to the rest of the states. What is happening in Scotland is much more serious than our half-hearted “that’s it, we’re leaving!”
With the economy in mind, could Scotland eventually stand alone? Would there be any impact to the infrastructure of the country should it divorce itself from the UK and assuming there definitely would have to be, what are the plans to replace that with something new and wholly Scottish run? Has anyone come out with a plan that addresses the serious issues surrounding such a transition?
As a Yank whose family came from Scotland, I will be watching with great interest. Keep us updated; it’s more interesting to hear personal accounts versus the sensationalized blurbs we find on the news.
Hey Beth, thanks for dropping by and for chipping in a bit of Texan political history. I love you’re ‘that’s it we’re leaving” statement. As for your questions as to whether our Scottish economy could sustain us I really don’t have a clear answer to that, it is very much determined by how you interpret the revenue figures. Plus if you step back even further than that from the situation we only need to look at the global financial crisis to know that things are pretty serious out there for us all. In terms of Scotland and what the future looks like – whether its devolution, devolution max or independence things are starting to filter out to give us a glimps of what ‘it’ may be and clarity on what these options mean. I think it’s my duty to try to keep up to speed – even my teenage son is talking about this one! Thanks for your comment, you raise really interesting questions.
Oh what part of Scotland did your family come from?
I believe one of the places they’re from is Kinglassie, but unfortunately I did something wonky to my Family Tree software when I reformatted my computer and can’t get to the information easily. However, once I do have it, I’ll send the information your way and pick your brain for information on those areas.
Ah it will be Kingussie, which is the area my mother and law, Sylvia, lived before she moved in with us – what a small world really it’s only about 45mins from us in the car driving south. I think you might just have made a good connection there Beth, Sylvia has some wonderful old memories and photographs. Remember us as a contact if you’re working on your family tree in the future.
We’d be more than happy to share info about Kingussie and Newtonmore.
I’m totally out of the loop on this one, but you sound very politically savvy with heart and head in fair balance.
To be honest, I think it’s about time if it is financially viable. Divorce can be so ugly and you have hard times ahead there. I think, politically, you are an owl
The papers are full of it all – there is so much to keep up with. Excuse the pun but I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.
I wasn’t aware of all that’s going on there. Thanks for educating me.
Independence is a wonderful thing, but then there are other problems that we have living on our own. When it comes to marriage, I figure we have to have really good reasons to make a life together, or it’s too much work. If you say it sounds like a divorce, I suppose the question is what are the advantages and disadvantages of living together; not whether one can live without the other. They surely can.
Thank you Shimon your comment makes a lot of sense in these evolving times.
Jacqueline I have nominated you for the Candle Lighter Award as finding your blog has certainly lightened up my life..the link is at http://wp.me/p1l7Si-s7
Feel free to accept or decline, no pressure, but I wanted you to know that you have made an impact on me. take care , Jane