Why I’m voting Yes to Scottish Independence

I don’t often go into detail on my views on politics online. On this occasion I’m making an exception. It’s hard to think of a more appropriate time. I’m not an activist though, just a guy busy with life and being an excited new dad.

I came to my conclusion on the Scottish independence referendum, not through party campaigning or TV debates but calm, quiet chats with friends, and my own research. Maybe these words will help someone else come to a conclusion.

Why I’ll be voting Yes.

It’s not about some tub-thumping nationalism. I’m proud of the people I live alongside, and I count myself blessed to live in such a beautiful country, but this isn’t about identity. I’m not about to drape myself in a Saltire and dust off a copy of Braveheart.

For me, this is about building a society that primarily, and quite simply, concerns itself with educating it’s children; taking care of it’s elderly; looking after the environment; and helping it’s people live healthy, fulfilling lives.

A nation that threads morality through its economy, puts principle at the heart of it’s laws and places creativity just a little higher than wealth generation. Maybe it’s the kind of small nation that could have a gentle positive influence in the rest of the world too.

That’s the kind of place I’d like my son to call home.

I’m convinced many of the people in the rest of the UK want to forge this kind of egalitarian society too but…

…it just hasn’t really worked out has it?

As the UK, we’re a nation that is almost perpetually at war: in 26 of the 33 years of my life, Britain has been involved in an armed conflict somewhere in the world.

We’ve developed a security service that spies on it own citizens on an industrial scale, and that is happy to break almost any law, including those of fundamental human rights in the name of anti-terror, or for brazenly economic and political advantage.

We’ve foreign policies that are quick to threaten and slow to listen, underwritten by a stockpile of nuclear weapons with enough combined power to kill 170 million people. Stored on my doorstep by the way.

We’ve got a government steadily dismantling the welfare state, under the auspices of austerity, while borrowing actually steadily increases. It’s slicing up and selling off the NHS and public services. Driving down the living standards of ordinary people and imposing irreversible laissez-faire economic policies while our backs are turned.

And on top of all this, we’re a union with an antiquated parliament, half of which is unelected and the other half largely unelectable. So what hope is there for change?

Just give me a modern parliament

I’m not under any illusion that I’d be waking up on the 19th of September to the birth of a utopia. It’s day 0, plenty to be done. But there’s a reason I feel as an independent Scotland we’d be ready and equipped to roll up our sleeves and get stuck in to moving forward where the UK has stalled: and that’s having a modern parliament fit for the job.

The UK turned down the opportunity of Westminster reform and proportional representation. Meanwhile in Scotland I’m represented by 8 different MSPs from 4 parties. Even the Greens!

Holyrood is far from perfect but the fact that I no longer feel compelled to vote tactically, nor that a vote for a minority party is wasted, actually makes me want to engage with politics. Other people do too, and that gives me confidence that we can build a country as a people, not simply watch it being tampered with by a political elite. This alone is enough for me to vote for independence.

But just to reiterate, on the 18th we’re not voting in an election. We’re not voting for Alex Salmond, the SNP or a manifesto. We’re voting for the principle of Scottish independence and self determination. After that, we’re free to elect exactly the government we feel is best for our country.

Uncertainty is uncertain, and short term to boot

Okay, it’s been done to death hasn’t it. Currency. We’re all sick of it I’m sure, but it’s still a concern for many. What happens when I go to an ATM? What will be written on my pay-slip? With what do I pay my suppliers?

These are real issues — and I do think about them too — but they are also short term. When we’re in the business of nation building, we’re in it for the very long-haul, and for the generations to come our currency panic will be a mere blip, while issues of equality and social justice will be what defines us.

The worth of a nation isn’t measured by the power of it’s currency but by the values of its people.

But for what it’s worth, I’m going to stick my neck out and say that an independent Scotland would be best served by having it’s own currency. Not only would having debt in our own currency mean we’d be protected from bankruptcy, we’d also have the power to regulate our financial system effectively.

Whether we like it or not, there is another financial crisis coming. We’ve failed again to regulate the banks; the housing bubble is rapidly inflating; personal debt as a percentage of GDP is massive; and even Phil and Kirsty are back on the telly!

It’s coming, and we’re not doing a whole lot about it. Blissful ignorance from Westminster, or more worryingly perhaps an idealogical land grab. Maybe that’s best saved for another blog post though.

Here’s the thing, it’s worth considering that as an independent Scotland, perhaps we’d be better positioned to avoid it?

We can build a more balanced economy on the foundations of engineering, manufacturing, electronics, tourism, renewables, computing, higher-education and our creative industries. Oh, and if we must, a little oil.

Importantly, we can regulate effectively, reduce household debt, bring some equality to the housing market and have a country that’s built on real things, not a giant ponzi-scheme and the hollow promises of an economy lopsided by financial services.

Maybe a shared pound idea is just to make people feel better, both sides of the border, or maybe it’s just a stepping stone to our own currency. I’ve no doubt that the “no way” from Westminster is a campaigning tactic, rather than a genuine cutting-off-nose-to-spite-face moment.

Either way, we’d be best served by having clams we can call our own. Oh, and we don’t have to call them clams. That’s just me.

You’re emigrating where?!

When thinking about what an indy Scotland might be like, we get pointed toward the usual suspect, Norway. It’s a nice comparison, same size population, just a hop across the North Sea, and a strong economy with a heavy oily slant — something to aspire to.

But what if it doesn’t work out like that? What if the oil thing is a false dawn. Well, dear goodness, we could end up like … New Zealand.

A friend emigrated there a few years ago. Despite New Zealand having recently gained independence from Britain, having a smaller economy than Scotland, a tiny-tiddler of an oil industry, a bigger trading partner next door, and even its own currency, I was, well, a bit jealous. Quite a lovely place to live by all accounts.

Let’s do this thing

Scotland is in the most enviable position by comparison to the birth of most nations. We’ve already got a functioning modern parliament; our own legal system; an economy that’ll do just fine thank you; natural and human resources that any small country would be proud of.

This is a one time chance for us to build a country based on equality and the needs of its people. It’s not a fall-out, a break-up, a divorce. It’s a decision on self determination being made through considered discourse in town halls, among friends and around dinner tables. Starting as we’d intend to move on — though engaging local democracy.