Download the Scotland Ebook
Yes or No? A collection of writing on Scottish independence Neal Ascherson, Menzies Campbell, David Marquand, Linda Colley, John Kay, John Kerr PROSPECT 2014 2 Introduction he vision of an independent Scotland will not disap- articulate a compelling case for the Union other than one based pear, even with a No vote in the referendum on 18th on prophesies of doom for Scotland if it goes it alone. This is September, which opinion polls suggest is likely. As partly because the question that David Cameron chose to pose Neal Ascherson argues in “Why I’ll vote Yes,” that in this referendum—full independence, or no change at all—is idea, now that it has taken root, will not go away. the wrong one. There should have been the option on the bal- TWhen Scots looks south, Ascherson writes, they see little of lot of “devo-max”—full autonomy, minus responsibility for for- themselves there. And all the while, the internal voice which eign policy and defence. Yet Cameron ducked that, wanting muses that “my country was independent once” gets louder. to force Scotland into a No vote; even though that is the likely Like many countries before it, Scotland sees independence “as result, the tactic has backfired by forcing serious consideration the way to join the world, modernise and take responsibility for of the Yes option. their own actions and mistakes.” Whatever happens on 18th September, Britain will have to Yet for all the feelings of national identity and self-assertion rethink the way it runs itself. The writer and former Labour MP that the referendum campaign has stirred up, economic ques- David Marquand imagines a federal future for the UK which tions—particularly concerning the currency and membership of grants autonomy to the constituent parts of the Union, short the of European Union—have dominated the debate.
[Show full text]