Thursday 5 June 2014

Still here

These are the powers Scotland already has
The fact that I haven't posted here for almost a month is not a sign that my interest in the upcoming referendum is waning. The primary reason why I haven't written anything is because I have several ongoing business and personal obligations that leave me little free time; the second reason is because news coverage in recent weeks has so significantly undermined what was left of the YeSNP's argument for independence made many of the points that I would have made - and made them much better than I could.

However, at a well-attended Better Together meeting in Leith tonight, I was reminded of the importance of bringing out the No Vote. We have reason - and level-headed emotion - on our side, but the Yes campaign is driven by sentiment and that sentiment is more likely to drive voters to the polls.

The three speakers included Alan Tomkins of Glasgow University, who writes trenchant analysis of the legal implications of separation, Ronald MacDonald, an economic expert and a businesswoman whose name I did not catch. All three spoke clearly and informatively and it was especially heartening to see, in answer to questions, Tomkins becoming passionate about the issue - a passion shared by several speakers, and non-speakers from the audience. Of course we are passionate: we want to save this country that we love - these countries that we love - from being destroyed by ignorance and greed for power.

Several  points came up that I will probably come back to in later posts, but the two that struck me most notably were (a) the absence of any SNP representative to answer some of the economic and business questions about independence that many in the audience had and (b) among the many contradictions of YeSNP policy was the fact that the country could not have the mass immigration that it now (since last week, that is) says it wants) together with an open border with the rest of the UK.

We will win this debate, but we will not win it through reason alone. We have to show the same passion for our cause as the Yes campaign. Nothing can overcome passion and reason.