What should the society we want to build after the referendum look like? By Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland Margaret Curran.
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Margaret Curran MP (Labour, Glasgow East) is the Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
The day after Scotland goes to the polls to decide whether to go it alone or to remain a part of the United Kingdom, politicians of all parties will sit down, take stock and decide where to go next. Reflecting on how we want that day to look and the discussions we’d like to be having – regardless of the outcome – can help us establish the debate we should be having now and the questions we should be asking.
For me, thinking about this illuminates two of the central questions we are grappling with in this debate now. Firstly, what choice should face the Scottish people and secondly, what should the society we want to build after the referendum look like?
On the first question, until recently, I thought we knew the answer. Those of us in the Labour Party who fought for and have defended devolution since the very start of our political lives wanted a strong Scottish Parliament inside a modern United Kingdom.
Those in the SNP wanted independence, and to separate Scotland from the rest of the UK. That was, after all, their founding purpose and the cause around which their members and supporters rallied. Now, only weeks into the referendum campaign, it looks like we’re dealing with something wholly different.
Instead of a clear choice between in or out of the UK, the SNP are moving the goalposts. ‘Independence’ for them now means keeping the currency, keeping the Queen, keeping the flag, staying British, asking a foreign country to regulate our banks, set our interest rates.
Do the SNP see England as a foreign country already? 2 Jul 2012
As if there wasn’t enough confusion already, we’re now told that Alex Salmond wants a third option on the ballot paper – “devo-max”, a brand without any details.
The second issue we should reflect on – the kind of society we want to build in Scotland – should be the one we keep our minds focussed on as we progress through this campaign. We’re not having a debate about the future of our nation for the sake of it, we’re having a debate because at stake are two competing futures for Scotland’s existence.
For me and my colleagues in the Labour Party, our belief in the United Kingdom isn’t borne out of nostalgia. I know that Scotland has always needed a strong voice in the UK. That’s why the Labour Party backed devolution and legislated for it days after coming into office in 1997. That’s why we introduced devolution. And that’s why we have carried on developing devolution and passed more powers and responsibility to the Scottish parliament, to get the balance right across the UK as a whole.
We have always had a vision for a strong, prosperous Scotland sitting inside a United Kingdom where we pool sovereignty with three other nations to protect our shared interests. It is a state of affairs that has become more, not less, relevant in an interconnected and interdependent world.
For the SNP however, the kind of society they want to build is unclear. As my recent Parliamentary Questions revealed, SNP ministers in Edinburgh haven’t had a single conversation with their counterparts in London about the consequences of independence. On issues as important to people as the economy, their jobs, their benefits or the nation’s security, not a single letter or email has passed between Scottish and UK ministers.
For a party that has waited generations to be in a position to deliver on its founding principle, the only conclusion I can draw from this is that the SNP no longer believe they can convince the Scottish people of independence. They have simply given up.
The first minister says it’s the only thing he’s campaigning for, but from his desperation for a third option, however woolly, to his lack of interest in opening up a discussion with the UK government on what happens the day after independence, I can only conclude he’s bottled it.
58 Responses to “Salmond must stop moving the goalposts on Scottish independence referendum”
Pulp Ark
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leftlinks
Left Foot Forward – Salmond must stop moving the goalposts on Scottish independence referendum http://t.co/2hRtnMQu
Anonymous
Margaret
Have you been sleeping for the last year? Because if you haven’t been how on earth do you not know that the 3 options have been discussed since the SNP Parliamentary victory last year? Or do you really take that little interest these days in Scottish politics?
Fatmaria
Margaret Curran, like all the other Scottish Labour MP’s in Westminster, is worried about her job. Alistair Darling is concerned about that seat in the House of Lords.
In fact, on the basis of how they’re dealing with the prospect of Scottish independence so far, panicking would probably be more accurate.
They have personal interest in keeping Scotland tied to Westminster. In 2014 everyone in Scotland will know this.
The truth will out.
The fact she’s a rankamateur with the political nous of my cat is besides the point.
Anonymous
Firstly, what choice should face the Scottish people
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So why don’t the English, Welsh, and Northern Irish get a say in a major constitutional issue?
If the Scots want a vote on independence, shouldn’t the English get a say?
Then you can deal with the mess. Scotland votes to stay, the rest of the UK votes to kick them out.
It’s called democracy. Time we had more of it.